diapering question for those with little girls

[KellyandBean]

When my DD was a newborn i remember asking her ped this question and i got a vague answer and was to embarassed to press on about it. I can't believe she is 9 mos old and i am finally asking someone again haha. Ok so you know how they pooh and it gets into cracks it shouldn't go into sometimes? How much of an effort should i be putting into fishing it out? I know women have bodies design to natural cleans themselves so i haven't been making a real effort to like spread things open and clean out in there and i'm not even sure if i am supposed to? I've occasionally spread her labia to attempt to wipe some obvious pooh out and I've noticed there is like this egg-y looking yellow gunk in there and i just don't touch it...is that just some kind of little girl discharge or is it old pooh? I feel so stupid!

[lunarlady]

Little girls do have a low level of discharge, just like grown up girls.    So you wipe a little more than you would for yourself during diaper changes.  Make sure to wipe front to back (as if poop wasn't everywhere) And clean between the folds of the labia.  But you don't need to worry too much about poop getting into the vagina as it is pretty tightly sealed, and there is that little bit of discharge that helps keep it clean.  You will also sometimes see a white vernix like substance between the folds of the labia.  This is normal and forms a protective barrier, so don't wipe that away.

Hope this helps!  I know all those little folds sure can be hard to get and keep clean.

[jecombs]

 When my DD was a baby, I never put much effort into fishing poo out of her vagina.  I did spread her labia and wipe what I could see.  If the poo really seemed to be everywhere, I'd just put her in the bathtub after I wiped all the obvious poo off.  Just sitting in the water was always enough to get all the poo out of her crevices.

The egg-y looking stuff is probably just discharge.  I wouldn't worry about it unless is smells funky or is accompanied by a yeasty-looking rash.

[Knitting Mama]

Originally Posted by jecombs 

 When my DD was a baby, I never put much effort into fishing poo out of her vagina.  I did spread her labia and wipe what I could see.  If the poo really seemed to be everywhere, I'd just put her in the bathtub after I wiped all the obvious poo off.  Just sitting in the water was always enough to get all the poo out of her crevices.

The egg-y looking stuff is probably just discharge.  I wouldn't worry about it unless is smells funky or is accompanied by a yeasty-looking rash.

Exactly this. I spread her outer labia and wipe the poo off that I see, and that is all. I don't try to get up in her actual vagina to get poo, because it's pretty tightly closed.

[Choaners]

my mother taught me to use a few cotton balls dipped in warm water and just wipe down (front to back) between the labia. this usually gets all the poo that needs to be gotten and it provides a tiny bath for the girl parts.  she actually seems to like it too!  we just keep a small dish by the bathroom sink and if i suspect a poo diaper, i just fill it w/ warm water and bring it to the changing table where i've got the cotton balls stored. 

[HonkyTonka]

When I was in the hospital after DD was born I was told to 'don't get in there'. Not sure if that was because the protective vernix stuff was still there or what, but I still don't do much (mostly no) spreading. She's never had a problem. Of course, up until a few weeks ago she was EBF. Now that she's on solids I might start being a little more thorough. The cotton ball idea sounds like a good one.

[cocoanib]

In the case of a blowout and it gets between the labia, I wipe it gently to get as much of it as I can.

Then to the sink or tub we go, depending on how bad it is.

Sometimes, I will just use a peri bottle of luke warm water and spread the labia a bit and spray downward.

Other times, she get's a bath and the soaking get's it all out.

I also assume that when she pees that is kind of rinsing things down there as well.

[waiting2bemommy]

glad I found this thread because I have been cleaning anything white or yellow that I find even if it is inside the little folds. Guess I should stop!

dd gets a bath every night (except for the occasional skipped night) so I guess that's clean enough??